My interpretation of “developed” is only limited overall quality of life.
The overall quality of life is measured by a combination of different economic indicators such as GDP per capita ( PPP), HDI ( Human Development Index) which covers life expectancy, access to quality education, and healthcare.
In addition to these economic indicators, I include the happiness index, political stability for the past 10 years, recent presidential elections, and income inequality ( GINI coefficient).
As of 2018, with the criteria above, this is my top 5 “developed” nations in Africa. The median GDP per capita ( PPP) is about $ 18,000.00 and HDI varies 0.750–0.825.
- Mauritius ( $ 21, 628.00)
- Botswana ($ 18, 146.00 )
- South Africa ($ 13, 403.00)
- Seychelles ( $ 28, 712.00)
- Gabon ($ 19, 266.00)
Aside of South Africa, the rest of the countries are relatively small countries in population. Seychelles has around 100,000 people, while other countries have between one to two million people.
In this answer below, I describe my top 10 “ developed” African nations.